Meeting chaired by Alun Michael MP.
Karl Wilding – NCVO
Trends in giving to charities:
Charitable giving from surveyed people - £10.6bn per year.
Plus £2bn from legacies.
56% of the adult population say they give to charity – the same as 10 years ago, though 30 years ago 75% gave to charity.
28m people give to charity each year.
The median gift is £12 per month – and this hasn’t changed over the last 5-6 years. Is this a psychological price point?
The mean gift is £31 per month – 8% of donors give over half the donated money.
The public are conservative about the causes they will fund – children and young people, disaster relief, help for heroes.
An important factor is “being asked” – you cannot milk a cow by sending it a letter, you have to engage with it!
The charities who spend most on fundraising – raise the most funds. This can lead to Tescoisation – where larger charities get larger. A situation compounded by commissioning approaches that disadvantage smaller organizations.
There is a shift away from cash and loose change towards credit cards and direct debit giving.
Gift aid reclaim is static – and 50% is not claimed (who does this belong to HMRC or the sector?)
Trends going forward are likely to be:
- Philanthro-capitalists – high net worth individuals making larger donations as part of a reciprocal relationship with a charity. Significant sums will only be given through having real relationships with donors.
- Increased role of technology – social networking/friendraising – makes it easier to give on-line, via a cash machine, rounding up the bill in shops with the pennies going to charity (Pennies Foundation), mobile phone apps that know where you are and prompt donations to charities located nearby. Technology is most accessible to larger organizations with resources to make advantage of the opportunities.
Beth Breeze – Centre for Charitable Giving and Philanthropy
Each year there are around 100 donations of £1m or more.
The appeal is that individuals can fund programmes that appeal to their interests – whereas taxes fund programmes that individuals can only tangentially influence.
There are four areas where government could act to increase philanthropic activity:
Provide tax breaks – and the whole area of committing a legacy before death should be opened up and explored. There are some areas where this is possible eg donations of works of art or to universities – but some examination needed to look at why some areas are given preferential treatment.
Directly fund organizations that exist to promote philanthropy and advise on effective ways to progress eg Philanthropy UK.
Look at the regulations around giving – people are easily put off through concern that their money is not used well.
Enhance the visibility of philanthropists – promote as part of local leadership, reinforce through high profile good news stories. There are big cultural differences between the US and UK. Warren Buffett and Bill Gate’s 2010 challenge to US billionaires to give away half their fortunes (Giving Pledge) was met by over 40 people.
There are no degree programmes that cover fundraising – yet these skills are much in demand.
Matthew Bowcock – Member of the Philanthropy Review Board and Chair of the Community Foundation Network
The UK is the second most generous nation in the world. The poorest give more as a proportion of their income.
The challenges are to:
Make giving easier – payroll giving is easy and tax efficient, yet only 1% of employers offer this option and 4% of employees participate.
Incentivise giving – review of living legacies etc
Change behaviours through investing in education on philanthropy and celebrating philanthropic actions. Shift social norms so that more people give and people give more. This needs to be the ethos from the top – with prominent business leaders being seen to give.
Getting the basic right – by this we mean having data with which to assess philanthropic activity eg via HMRC
Next meeting to cover Understanding Participation
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